Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-07-27
Rural Improvement.

i
sonal observation, yet we nave ne'ei
Welded TO the often-heralded superiority OF
other sections of country in comparison
with our own. The Western and North
western States are generally held up as
containing the embodiment OF attractlons
to the Young men of Virginia and our Val
Lev country, who are allured hither be-
cause of the assertion that efforts here to
farm profitably are unrequited, whilst
there it is said that but to sow is to secure
an abundant harvest, and, of course, high
Grade and enlightened culture in the aux
iliary departments Of agricultural pursuits,
which latter is another of the mistaken
conclusions impressed upon their minds
Heretofore, we have discussed, and it may |
be in season hereafter again to discuss, the
facts of the case in all its bearings, especi-
ally, as it concerns the young farmers of
the Valley. 1t has been often demon |
strated that of all things necessary to make |
life happy and home pleasurable, there is
no better country in which to secure them
in large and enduring realizations than our
own.
The characteristics Of our own people, |
their tastes and inclinations, their love for
ornamental culture which adds so much to
the elegance and dignity of farming pur-
suits, are not properly estimated either by
those who came on soliciting missions to
lead our youth away from their own land,
or by the thoughtless who claim to have
made AN effort and find the soil their fathers
titled is not productive for them. We
maintain that not only before; but since
the war, when having to confront SO many
obstacles, some of which may have proved
insurmountable, the rural homes of our
section, in liberal and progressive meas
ure, have demonstrated an Unborn love for
refined and tasteful culture, which, as the
cheerful auxiliary of sturdy farming, and
of its real advancement, should be highly
priced. Virginia is the principal and the
fruit-tree nurseries of all the States. We
can point out a greater progress in this
department of industry which has been
successfully prosecuted within our own
borders than can be found elsewhere-the
comparison being with the results of the
last twenty years-the new date of our eff
forts on this line.
Almost every farm in all our section of
country is being supplied with new
orchard. Ornamental shrubbery and lawn
trees, for which our forests furnish such
beautiful varieties, are annually increasing
in adornment that finds its chief advocates
with the daughters of our farmers. The
lives of their fathers are thus made hap
pier and their Efforts strengthened to at
tain to excellence in field-culture. Whilst
age is bending their forms, and increasing
cares wrinkling their foreheads, they find
this new soiace in the old homes for which
they seek returning prosperity. The per-
centage of taste and refined culture is pos
sessed by our daughters, and the young
man should pause in every instance when
contemplating to change his home for
other and untried chimes to him, though
the messengers of allurement continue to
play upon his imagination.
This train of thought has been suggested
after reading a description of the rural
homes of the West, for example, in Hi
nois. Mr.. A. C. Hammond, the Secretary
of the Illinois State horticultural Society,
writes as follows -
sit is exceedingly difficult to make the
average farmer understand that a reason
able outlay for an orchard, fruit and vega
table garden, as we'll as for flowers, shrubs,
ornamental trees and hedges is a judicious
expenditure. So prevalent is this idea that
we find less than forty per cent. of tho
farmers of the West growing apples in
sufficient quantity and variety to supply
their families eight months 10 the year. and
pears and plums and cherries are never
seen in their homes. Less than twenty
per cent. grow small fruits for their ia bles,
and scarcely one in ten considers it worth
while to give any attention to planting
ornamental trees Or shrubs, and even d less
per cent. give the female portion of the
household encouragement. or help in Guilt
waiting the Hover garden or house plants"
We could quote from other writers of
equal responsibility and position to the
one of very high authority named, but it is
not necessary. This description of SO
large percentage of Western rural homes
is not applicable to our Virginia Valley
1t is quite different, and instead of the in
ducement to leave this section for that, the
reverse should be presented, and it can be
maintained in our favor by many other
considerations that are here to add to social
and intellectual culture, as we'll as climate
and soil that will respond with largest
yields for the same amount of labor and eff
fort required to make ru.al and farming
pursuits productive in the storm-riddeE
and cyclone-tortured fields of the West.
Suppose we now add to the Unborn taste
and desires of most of our rural population
the agency of farmers clubs in every
neighborhood, which whilst embracing
agriculture in its fullest scope, will also
take in fruit-growing, tree planting, Arbor-
days, the culture Of ornamental shrubbery,
&c. If we do, soon there will be realized,
along with the highest grade of farming,
the ornamentation of our homes to de-.
gree that will largely reverse the order as
it is given in the West. It will then be
said that beautiful homes have helped to
make prolific farms, and that in our case
the exceptions in this grand realization are
but few. Let US reserve in the fullest
sense the dreary surroundings with nothing
IN reach to minister to intellectual and ss-
thetic wants as those authorized to speak
describe the scene on most of the prairie
farms of the West
The 9th Congress.